Attachment for fur sewing machines



Jan. 10, 1956 1.. WIESENFELD 2,730fl56 ATTACHMENT FOR FUR SEWING MACHINES Filed Aug. 13, 1951 $5. qzP- INVENTOR. Leo wiesenfeld BY m W 9* W ZWZorrzg/S United States Patent 2,730,056 ATTACHMENT FOR FUR SEWING MACHINES Leo Wiesenfeld, Miami, Fla.

. Application August 13, 1951, Serial No. 241,598

4 Claims. (Cl. 112-20) The present invention relates to an attachment for a fur sewing machine and, more particularly, it relates to an attachment for a fur sewing machine whereby the strands of fur are aligned and prevented from protruding through the stitched seam.

Before two pieces of fur are stitched together, the strands of fur must be downwardly aligned and positioned between the two pieces, otherwise the strands will protrude through the seam causing an unsatisfactory result. Heretofore, in the operation of a fur sewing machine, it has been necessary for the operator to keep the two pieces apart as they approached the feed discs by the use of both hands and at the same timeto manipulate the thumb or other fingers of one hand so as to smooth and align the strands of fur downwardly between the pieces. This manipulation and handling can be performed only by a skilled operator and it takes an unreasonably long time to train such an operator proficiently.

In the present invention, I have provided, among other things, a suction attachment for fur sewing machines which eliminates the necessity of manually aligning the fur hairs.

It is anobject of the present invention to provide a suction or vacuum attachment which holds apart pieces of fur and permits the strands of fur to be downwardly and uniformly aligned before the pieces are stitched together.

One advantage of the present invention is that by the use of the vacuum attachment the operator no longer must use both hands and his thumb orother fingers to align the strands of fur. In fact, only one hand need be employed by the operator in sewing the fur. This, of course, now permits those handicapped by having only one arm to become skilled operators.

Moreover, another advantage of my invention is that the entire sewing process will be accelerated.

In addition, it has the advantage that the long period of time necessary to train an operator has been reduced to a minimum, which reduction is reflected in cost of the finished product to the ultimate consumer.

Other objects and advantages of the device embodying the present invention will become more apparent as it is described in detail below, with particular reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein,

Fig. 1 is an elevational view in partial section showing the attachment on a portion of a standard fur sewing machine;

Fig. 2 is a view taken on the line 2--2 of Fig. 1, and looking in the direction of the arrows; and,

Fig. 3 is a detailed fragmental perspective view of the attachment comprising the present invention.

In accordance with the present invention, I have provided an attachment for a conventional fur sewing machine comprising a movable suction tube member having an extensible element on which is mounted a projecting guard or wedge to separate the pieces of fur prior to the sewing operation and which attachment is adapted to align and position those strands of fur near the edges of the pieces to be sewn so that the strands will not protrude through the stitched seam.

With particular reference to Fig. 1, there is shown a portion of a fur machine having conventional driven feed discs 11 and 12 mounted in suitable manner on an overhead frame 13 of the sewing machine. A needle bar or plate 14, positioned above the disc 12, is attached to the machine with the aid of bolt 15. The needle bar or plate 14, which is stationary at all times, has a groove 16 adapted to receive a conventional needle 17, which needle reciprocates across the inwardly facing rims of the discs 11 and 12 and which cooperates with the looping element 18. The needle, looping elements, and discs are operated in a conventional manner and do not form a part of the present invention.

In the sleeve 21 which is fixed in the table 22 there is a slidable metal tube 23, the top of which is located intermediately below and forward of the discs 11 and 12. The lower end of the metal tube 23 is connected to an elbow tube 124 which in turn is connected to a flexible hose 25. The hose 25 is attached to a suitable source of vacuum (not shown). Received in the top end of the tube 23 and held thereto by means of a. set screw 26 is an extendable mouthpiece 27. The depth of the mouthpiece 27 within the metal tube 23 is controlled by suitable adjustment of the, set screw 26.

The upper portion of the mouthpiece 27 tapers inwardly so as to define an opening 28, in which the end of the opening nearer the discs 11 and 12 is narrower than the opposite end, as shown in Fig. 2. At the upper portion of the mouthpiece 27 farthest the feed discs 11 and 12, there is an upwardly extending dividing or wedging member 29 which hasa generally semi-tubular shape and which may be considered as a partial upward extension of the telescopically mounted mouthpiece 27.

The lower portion of the tube 23 has a collar 31 which is operatively connected to a link 32 which in turn is operatively connected to a core 33 of a solenoid 34. This solenoid is energized by current passing through the wire 35.

When the solenoid 34 is energized the motion of the core 33 is imparted through the link 32 and collar 31 so that tube 23 will slide upwardly in the sleeve 21 into operative position. When the solenoid is de-energized the tube 23 will automatically drop downwardly into idle position, as shown in phantom in Fig. 1.

A series of switches 36, 37 and 38, for controlling the operation of the needle 17, the movement of the tube 23, and the source of vacuum, respectively, are positioned in a suitable manner on the table 22. Although not shown or claimed as part of the invention, it is quite obvious that all leads from the switches 36, 37 and 38 may be connected to a central unit so that the entire operation of all parts of the machine may be operated either simultaneously or individually by a foot pedal or the like, depending on which switches are closed.

When it is desired to sew two pieces of fur, the telescopically mounted mouthpiece 27 is first adjusted by means of the set screw 26 in the metal. tube 23. The amount of adjustment of the mouthpiece 27 is dependent upon the lengths of the hairs of the pieces of fur being sewn. For shorter hairs the mouthpiece 27 must be raised higher in the tube 23 and for longer hairs it must be lowered. The leading edges of the two pieces of fur to be sewn are positioned adjacent the needle 17 and then the tube 23 is raised until the opening 28 in the mouthpiece 27 is just intermediately below and forward of the inwardly facing rims of the feed discs 11 and 12. Switches 36 and 38 are then switched on to commence the operation of the needle 17 and to produce suction in tube 23 and mouthpiece 27.

Before entering the path of the reciprocating needle 17-, the pieces are forced apart by the action of the dividing or wedging member 29 so that all of the strands or hairs cf: the fur pieces 30 which are above thelevel of the opening 28'will come under the influence of the vacuum. These hairs will be sucked downwardly into the opening 28-& Any loose or cut strands of fur 30; of course, will pass down through themouthpiece 27 and the metal tube 23 andbe= collected in some-suitable screen or filter (not shown). The remainder of the hairs will now assume a downward position: As the run pieces move along toward the reciprocating needle 17 duetothe action of' the feed discs-11* and 1 2; thestrandsof fur will beremoved fio'm the vacuum influence in the tube" 23' and lifted out of the opening' ztl. As the'p'ieces of fur 3t? pass by and along them'outhpi'ece'2'7 toward the-needle 17, they tend to come together again because of the inwardly tapering surfaces of' theupper portion of the mouthpiece 27. As the pieces of fur come together, thehairsoffurare more or less locked imposition so that they cannot be'disaligne'd'. Thus all of the sti'and'sof fur 30' which have been subjected to the suction orvacuum influence no'w' lie in a downward plane and inuniform alignment so' that' there is absolutely no danger of any of the strands of fur protruding through the stitched seam after" the pieces offunare sewni- Thus? i't i s no longer necessaryfor the operator to hold the p'ieces of fur apart by his hand and tomanipulate the s'tra'nds ofi'fhr'with his thumbi' Instead, he me'relyholds the two pieces of fur with his one hand andpermits the divider orw'edge- 29 to separate the pieces of fur and the suction the tube 23 and mouthpiece 27 to align thehairs offiir.- He is now able to concentrate solely on the; sewing and matching of the two pieces.

Althdugh theinvention, as'described above, shows the metal tube-23* extending upwardly in a straight line from and: through the-table, thetube also'may be designed so than just below the top of'the who it bends or curves, in any suitable manner, in a direction away from the wedgingondividingmember 29before entering the sleeve 21 in the) table 22.- With this latter arrangement, the tube 23=will' not interfere with the pieces of fur asthey are moved along during the=sewing operation: Moreover; any suitable conduit member may be employed for the tube 23: lt is not necessary that the conduit member be tube shapedt While the in've'ntiom has been described indetail and shown with respect to theaccompanying drawings, it 'is not' tctbe limited to" such details, sincemany' changes and modifications may be made in the invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof. Hence, it is desired recover any" and all forms and modifications off the' invention which may come within the language and scopeiof any, one or more of: the appended claims;

I: claim:

1. A far sewing machine for seaming pieces of fur having d'riven feed discs, a reciprocating needle and an" attachment for aligning fur hairs just prior tosewing" of theIfur-pieccs and, for removing looselint, dust and dirt particles from thefur'pieces, said attachment comprising a: conduit member movable toward and away from said feed! discs and said reciprocating needle; an extensionmemberpartially received within said conduit member, said extension member being slidably adjustable with respect to said conduit member, that part of said extension member not received within said conduit member defining an elongated opening at its end, said opening being elongated generally in the direction of the line of feed in advance of the sewing. point, a wedge member located at the edge of said elongated opening farthest from said fe'e'd discs and extending upwa'rdl'y' therefrom, said wedge member having a generally semi-tubular shape and the vertical edges of said wedge member disposed towards said feed discs, said wedge member constituting a partial upward extension of said extension member, said extension member being positioned in the line of feed in advance of the sewing point and slightly below said discs, and said conduit member being adapted for connection to a vacuum source.

2'. An attachment for use with a' fur sewing machine for seaming pieces of fur, said machine having driven feed discs and a reciprocating needle, said attachment adapted" to align fur hairsjust prior to sewing of the fur pieces and adapted to remove loose' lint, dust and dirt particles from the fur pieces; saidatta'chment comprising a conduit member movable toward and away from' said feeddiscs and said reciprocating needle, an" extension member partially received within said conduit member, said extension member being slidably adjustable with respectto" said conduit member, that part of said extension member not received vvithin said'conduit' member defining an elongatedopening' at its end, said opening being elongated generally in the direction of the line of feed in advance of the sewing point, a wedge member located at the edge ofsai'd elongated opening and adapted" to be positioned farthest from said feed discs and extend upwardly therefrom, said wedge'member having a generally semi tubular shape and the vertical edges of said wedge member adapted to be disposed towards said'feed discs, said wedge member constituting a partial upward extension of said extension member, said extension'member' adapted to be positioned in" the line of feed in advance of the sewing point and slightly below' said discs, and said conduit member being adapted for connection to a vacuum source.

3. A fur sewing machine for seaming pieces of fur" inaccord with claim 1 wherein the edges of said elongated opening tapertoward each other as they extend away from said wedge member;

4. An attachment in accord with claim 2' wherein the edges ofsaid elongatedlopening taper toward each other as they extendaway fro'm' said wedge member.

References Cited inthe file ot'- this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

